Call for Proposals: 2012-2013 Research Initiative

CCCC is pleased to announce the ninth year of its Research Initiative. This year we invite proposals for research that will advance the organization as articulated in the CCCC strategic governance initiatives and in the CCCC mission statement. Particular topics areas of interest include but are not limited to:

Formal and informal learning of writing

Outcomes and assessments

Multilingual writers

Writing in organizations, communities, and/or cultures

Working conditions and their influence on teaching and learning

Disciplinarity

Development of teachers or researchers

Technologies for writing and learning to write

We invite proposals for research that employ diverse perspectives and methodologies including historical, rhetorical, qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic, and textual. Proposals should argue for the significance of topic and methodology and explain and justify its plan for how researchers will gather and analyze evidence and how the evidence will help address the investigators’ research questions. Proposals should also detail the people and resources required to complete the project and argue for their appropriateness. Proposals that have innovative aims or that employ novel concepts, approaches, or methods are encouraged. Research conducted under this initiative is intended to provide support for the vision/mission of the CCCC—each proposal should articulate how the results of the research proposed might accomplish this goal.

CCCC plans to fund proposals of up to $10,000 each. The principal investigators of each proposal must be members of CCCC. Proposals are expected to last up to two years but can run for shorter periods of time. Proposals are to be submitted no later than October 3, 2012, as email attachments to Kristen Suchor at cccc@ncte.org. Proposals are reviewed by a joint committee comprised of the CCCC Officers and members selected from the CCCC Research Committee. Decisions will be announced by January 30, 2013. A mid-project report will be due by March 1, 2014. This will be the final report date for projects lasting up to one year. Projects should be completed and a final report submitted by March 1, 2015 for projects lasting two years. A summary version of the final report will be hosted on the NCTE website.

Proposals should consist of the following:

A cover page that contains the title of the proposal, the names and full contact information of the investigator(s) (institution, address, phone, email), and, in the event of multiple investigators, the designation of a principal contact.

A narrative of not more than eight pages arguing for the significance of the project, for the quality of the methodological approach, and for how the project enables the CCC to realize its vision. Narratives should be single spaced, utilize a standard font no smaller than 12 pts, and utilize 1 inch margins. In making arguments, the proposal should be clear regarding the question to be addressed; the importance of the question for CCCC; previous related work in the research literature; the evidence to be gathered and the methods of its collections; the analytical methods to be applied; how the evidence and analysis are compatible and appropriate to produce answers to the research question; the qualifications of the researchers to conduct this research; and plans for disseminating the findings.

A work plan with a timeline of key events and processes, people associated with that work, and milestones associated with events and processes.

A detailed budget with specific rationale for all expenses. Please note that this grant may not be used to pay indirect costs and/or overhead and must be used to fund direct costs associated with research. Equipment costs are allowable if justified.

Two-page CV’s for each investigator, highlighting successfully completed work relevant to the proposed project.

2004-2007 Research Initiatives

The CCCC Research Initiative “Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy—What We Know, What We Need to Know” was approved in early 2004 and was awarded three consecutive years (2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007). This effort was largely been focused on supporting new meta-analytical research by providing funding and an opportunity for researchers from all participating institutions to gather to share ideas and receive advice. The program aimed to create an opportunity for researchers to bring together what the profession has already learned, through a variety of methodologies, regarding the teaching and study of composition, rhetoric, and literacy. While each award year had a slightly different focus, in general the proposed research should address, in one of these areas, questions such as: What do we know? What do we still need to know? What research approaches seem fruitful?

The Research Initiative was indefinitely put on hold by the CCCC Executive Committee in March of 2007. In April 2008, the CCCC Executive Committee approved committing 5% of the contingency reserve in FY 09 to establish a core descriptive database that can serve as a resource for all future CCCC-funded research projects. The goal is to create a sustained research initiative to advance scholarship in composition and rhetoric and enhance the reputation of CCCC.

CCCC-Sponsored Research: Writing in High School, Writing in College

In the spring of 2006, the CCCC Executive Committee invited proposals for a single grant of $25,000 from the CCCC Research Initiative to study the amount and kinds of writing American students do in high school and college. The purpose of this focused initiative is to create an empirically-based description of student writing in school and college settings. The expectation for the project was that it would begin in late spring 2006, that the bulk of data would be gathered during fall 2006, with a progress report made by November 1, and with a final report due in March 2007. The ideal proposal would be national in scope, gathering information from enough students, in enough diverse settings, that broad claims could reasonably be made about the nature nationally of student writing. In May of 2006, CCCC awarded Dr. Joanne Addison, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, and Dr. Sharon James McGee, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the $25,000 grant. The selection committee was especially impressed by the thoughtful work Drs. Addison and McGee had already done on the survey instrument. Committee members also liked the portfolio approach to assessing student work. In the spring of 2008, the project deadline was extended to June 2009.

Research Initiative Recipients

2011-2012

The Borderlands Literacy ProjectCarol Brochin Ceballos and Carlos Salinas, The University of Texas at El Paso

Reading in the First-Year Writing Classroom: A National Survey of Classroom Practices and Students’ ExperiencesEllen Carillo, University of Connecticut

Barriers to Writing Transfer: Writing in the Major at the "2+2" UniversityBradley Dilger and Neil Baird, Western Illinois University

Comparing Faculty Time and Labor in Online versus On-campus First-Year Composition Courses: A Study of the SUNY Community CollegesCynthia Eaton, Suffolk County Community College

2010-2011

A Decade of War: Institutional and Civic Responsibilities to "Warrior Writers" in the Writing ClassroomD. Alexis Hart and Roger Thompson, Virginia Military Institute

Placement of Multilingual Writers in First-Year Composition Courses in U.S. Colleges and Universities: A Nationwide SurveyPaul Kei Matsuda and Tanita Saenkhum, Arizona State University

“'The Things They Carried': A Synthesis of Research on Transfer in College Composition,”(Awarded: $8,188)Kathleen Blake Yancey, Florida State University, TallahasseeEmily Dowd, Florida State University, TallahasseeTamara Francis, Florida State University, Tallahassee

"A Study of the Implications for College-Level Literacy Instruction and Assessment of the P-16 Educatioon Policy Reform Movement,” ($5,000)J.S. Dunn, Indiana University of PennsylvaniaMichael M. Williamson, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

"Visualizing Composition: Understanding Composing Processes as a Coordination of Technological and Cultural Activities,” ($5,000)Bill Hart-Davidson, Michigan State University, East LansingJulie Lindquist, Michigan State University, East LansingJeff Grabill, Michigan State University, East Lansing

"Acquisition of Level 4 L2 English Writing Proficiency by Students Whose First Language is Arabic,” ($5,000)Betty Lou Leaver, New York Institute of Technology, Amman, JordanAmal Mohammed Jasser, Jordan University of Science and Technology,Irbid, JordanRajai Khanji, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

"Second-Language Writing in College Composition Programs,” ($5,000)Paul Kei Matsuda, University of New Hampshire, Durham

"A Meta-analysis of the Teaching of Technical Writing to Students for Whom English is Not a First Language,” ($5,000)Christine Winberg, Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, South AfricaJoyce Nduna, Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, South AfricaThea van der Geest, University of Twente, Enschede, The NetherlandsBarbara Lehman, The Ohio State University, Columbus